If you are shooting or filming a commercial or video, taking photographs or recording any type of media to be broadcast or published commercially in any way, you will need a signed model release form from every person that appears on camera. There are some exceptions to this. For instance, if you are shooting personal photos to post on social media, you don’t need a model release form. If you are shooting someone in the foreground and someone walks behind them in the background, you don’t need a model release form if you cannot see their face.
For the most part, if you are shooting any type of media for any commercial purposes, however, you need a model release form from every person that can be identified. Here are the two primary reasons why.
Privacy
People have a right to privacy and this is particularly true of minors. The problem with shooting any type of media in a public location is that you just never know who is going to be walking by. Some people have excellent reasons for not wanting their image to be caught on camera and broadcast to the public.
Some reasons may include being in witness protection or in hiding from an abusive spouse or even being seen in the presence of someone they don’t want to be seen with. The point is, regardless of the reason, people have a right to privacy, which is why you need a release before broadcasting their image in any way.
Right of Publicity
In essence you “own” your face, image or likeness. This is particularly true of models, but in reality it is true of everyone. A model, for instance, makes their entire living from someone taking their picture and publishing it. If you take their picture and publish it without paying for it, you are in essence stealing from them.
When they sign a release, they are giving you the right to use their image and likeness. While it may be easier to understand models, the truth is, it is also true of everyone else. Essentially, your face is something you own, it is your “property” (so to speak) and no one has the right to publish an image of it without your consent.